Ballade (Double Refrain) Of Youth And Age - I. M. Thomas Edward Brown

(1829-1896)     Spring at her height on a morn at prime,     Sails that laugh from a flying squall,     Pomp of harmony, rapture of rhyme -     Youth is the sign of them, one and all.     Winter sunsets and leaves that fall,     An empty flagon, a folded page,     A tumble-down wheel, a tattered ball -     These are a type of the world of Age.     Bells that clash in a gaudy chime,     Swords that clatter in onsets tall,     The words that ring and the fames that climb -     Youth is the sign of them, one and all.     Hymnals old in a dusty stall,     A bald, blind bird in a crazy cage,     The scene of a faded festival -     These are a type of the world of Age.     Hours that strut as the heirs of time,     Deeds whose rumour's a clarion-call,     Songs where the singers their souls sublime -     Youth is the sign of them, one and all.     A staff that rests in a nook of wall,     A reeling battle, a rusted gage,     The chant of a nearing funeral -     These are a type of the world of Age.     Envoy     Struggle and turmoil, revel and brawl -     Youth is the sign of them, one and all.     A smouldering hearth and a silent stage -     These are a type of the world of Age.